Concert Review: Troy Kingi & Delaney Davidson at Leigh Sawmill, 8 August 2021

The 13th Floor goes to Leigh! Marty Duda traveled north to catch Troy Kingi and Delaney Davidson at Leigh Sawmill. Was the trip worth it?

It was a dark and stormy night…but the atmosphere at Leigh Sawmill was warm and welcoming as we settled in for some pre-gig grub. The food was excellent and so was the staff, so we’re off on the right foot (or is that the good foot?)

Leigh Sawmill was pretty much as expected. We met some friendly natives, told a few tall tales and then moved downstairs for the show.

The two musicians stood side by side, guitars and various electronics gadgets at the ready.

“Feel the darkness descending”, they sang as the night took over outdoors.

I’ve heard Troy and Delaney sing often enough to be familiar with their “sound”, however, singing together in close harmony, the two sounded like neither…instead they make a completely new sound.

This is the payoff for Troy’s 10-10-10 project, getting to hear him in different settings and in alternate musical circumstances.

The first set began with the first four tracks from Black Sea Golden Ladder, the album Troy and Delaney released earlier this year. But this was anything but a straight run through the record.

Joking that he was a to “cover” one of his own songs, Troy introduced The View, a tune he recorded with previous incarnation, Love & Hope, a few years back…with Delaney taking on Mara TK’s parts.

The 40 minute first set wrapped with two more Black Sea songs, resulting in a big finish thanks to Hunt Down Happiness.

The wait wasn’t long before set two…just enough time to appreciate the great sound quality and have another drink.

They resumed with more from Black Sea, starting with a bluesy Forgotten Like A Dream, but breaking away to play All Your Ships Have Sailed, the Silver Scroll-nominated song from The Ghost Of Freddie Cesar.

Then a bit of fun as the two donned masks of each others faces for True Love…strange, yet oddly entertaining.

Then, with a Psycho Killer-like intro, Mighty Invader took off followed by an extended Caught In The Rain that was jammy and twangy.

Never Take Me Away was dedicated to Troy’s longsuffering wife who was watching  “our kids up North”. The song came to an abrupt end…a technical snafu?…but they carried on with Twilight and then Sea Of Death.

The encore was a blistering Gimme Hell that featured plenty of guitar shredding from both men.

Turns out the Leigh Sawmill lives up to its excellent reputation and Troy and Delaney exceeded theirs.

Marty Duda

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